CHAPTER ONE: THEORY OF THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH 22-76 (a) The Noble Truth of Suffering 22-38 (1) 1. 1. The meaning of truth in Buddhism 22 (1) 1.2. Theory of natural Suffering 27 (1) 1.3. The name of three sufferings 34 (b) Theory of the life in Buddhist view 38-56 (1)2. 1. The meaning of human’s life in discourse 38 (1) 2. 2. Eight kinds of natural population 45 (1) 2. 3. Thirty-one planes exist in this world 50 (c) Theory of the purpose in life 56-76 (1)3. 1. Several ambitions 56 (1)3.2. How do we go the end of the world? 61 (1) 3. 3. The essence of human life 65 (1) 3. 4. Conclusion 70 Chapter-I Theory of the First Noble Truth (a) The Noble Truth of Suffering (1) 1.1. The meaning of truth in Buddhism According to the Buddha man's life or man's becoming is rare difficult to get. He never sees that the life is useless or worthless or meaningless as some philosophers claimed to the Buddha. But he enhances the human progress; he talked to set up ethical perfect life in the core of man's life, because man can understand the noble truth which is final goal of him. He believes that man has latent potentiality to attain the highest happiness and truth if he will strive on with mindfulness sufficiently. No man can achieve the emancipation or purification without personal striving. With these noble truths, man can achieve the supramundane stages, and he can destroy any fetters and bars which are inhibition to know about the mind and matter analytically. The Buddha himself enlightened the four noble truths and understood about the nature of reality as they really and truly are, when he practiced and investigated earnestly upon the five aggregates. He realized that the best of truths are the four noble truths among the truths. But the Buddha was only guide, discovered to know about these truths which are understood himself. Someone himself should practice to follow the Buddha’s way, if he has strong desire to know himself about that. Indeed the noble truths what the Buddha 23 discovered are not only invented to purify mind with thinking, metaphysics and imaginary idea, but also unfold with self-experience. The Buddha, before he attained Enlightenment, renounced his family and royal household amidst comfort and prosperity, because he realized the universality of sorrow. He wandered forth to search for Truth and Peace from one place to another. After he attained Enlightenment, he started his first teaching to unfold Truth and Peace which are already existent as a reality before him. He also declared that the road to spiritual development is open to all in every condition of life, low or high, saint or sinner, king or bagger and rich or needy who would care to turn a new leaf and seek perfection in this world which is bankrupt of character, darkness of truth and empty of peace. Somebody will ask that: What is truth? Here truth means sacca in Pali, Satya in Sanskrit which denotes an undeniable aspect as a real truth. The Buddha expounded definitely these four truths which are associated with the human being as a basis of his teaching. Hence his teaching is anthropocentric, but it is in contrast to anthropocentric religions. And then his teaching is inward looking rather than outward looking at. “Whether the Buddha arises or not in this present world, these truths will always exist which is the Buddha who reveals them to the deluded world. Nobody can change these real truths with time, space and personality because they are Ultimate Truths. The Buddha did not depend upon anyone for his realization for these four noble truths. Some Buddhist Scholars said that these noble truths are called as the heart of Buddhism.”* According to Abhidhamma there are three truths; they are conventional truth, like father, mother, mountain, forest, dog, animal, etc. 24 Ultimate tmth, like, mind, mental states, matter and Nibbana, and the Noble truth, like the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of the cause of suffering, etc. Some are remarked that; “the two formers are realities which means apparent and ultimate, apparent reality is like ordinary conventional truth and ultimate reality is like abstract truth.According to their remarks the noble truths will be included in ultimate reality. For example the smooth surface of the table which we see is apparent reality. In an ultimate sense the apparent surface consists of forces and qualities or in other words, vibrations. Likewise the Buddha resorts the discourses as conventional truth, but he resorts the Abhidhamma as a different mode of expression like ultimate truth. Here he employs that the analytical method uses abstract terms such as mind, mental states, matter and Nibbana, these are called Paramattha truth in Pali term. Moreover there are many suttas which are only explained mentality or materiality which is illustrated not only a being, not also a person. Therefore, when the component parts of a chariot, such as axles, wheels, frame, poles are arranged in a certain way, there comes to be the mere conventional tei*m as 'chariot'. But in the ultimate sense, when each part is examined, there is no chariot like conventional term. When the component parts of are compounded, there becomes the mere conventional term as a being or a person. But in the ultimate sense, when each component is examined, there is no being, no person as a basis for the assumption I, me, my, mine. There is only mentality and materiality in it. The vision of one, who sees in this way, is called true vision. Every phenomenon around us is consisted of mind and matter which arise and fall away; they are impermanent. “vVawa and rupa are absolute realities.”^ We can experience their characteristics when they 25 them as mind and matter. Those who have developed insight can experience them as they really and truly are, or as impermanent, suffering and non-self Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, experiencing tangible object through the body senses and thinking, all these names are impermanent. We used to think that there is a self who performs different functions such as seeing, hearing or thinking; but where is the self? Is it one of those the name of n masl The more we know different minds and matters by experiencing their characteristics, the more we will see that the self is only a concept; it is not an absolute or an ultimate reality. Minds are mental phenomena, and matters are physical phenomena. Mind and matter are different types of realities. If we do not distinguish the characteristic of each other, we will continue to take them for self Ariya-sacca:- Ariya means noble one who is free from all passions or defilements. The noble way was discovered by the Aryan who is far away removed from passions. Buddhist scholars including the Buddha set up before 'sacca' or truth as 'noble' or Ariya'. These truths are never changed, they are always existent in this world, whether the Buddha arises or not, because they are always true. Strictly speaking two months after the Buddha attained Enlightenment, he delivered his first discourse to a group of five ascetics who had been his disciples before, and who had been closely associated with him for six years ago in Univela forest before his enlightenment. This discourse is called Tounding of Wisdom' or 'Establishment of Wisdom', or 'Turning of the wheel of Truth'. In this first discourse we can analyzed into three ways thus: one is to avoid the two extremes; second is to follow the middle path, and the last one is to penetrate the four noble truths, this is the essence of this discourse. 26 The two extremes are self indulgence and self mortification. The Buddha remarked that the former is continuous attachment to sensual pleasures and as base, vulgar, worldly, ignoble and profitless, but the most importance is the self indulgence which retards the spiritual progress for mass. And then the last one can cause painful, ignoble and profitless also. This one also is base to vulgar, low and common to all, it can not be for holly people. This self mortification is only multiplies suffering instead of demising it, and it also causes weak of the intellect. If we will avoid the two extremes, we are also followed the middle path which is called MajjhimapatipadQ in Pali term. We can observe that the two extremes are prevalent in our current world. Many people promoted the material way of life, thinking that through material support all happiness must come, but it is not so. We will get more and more comfort and pleasure, but we are still not happy because we are not yet free from these sensual pleasures. Our problems may increase day by day, when sense desires are continually gratified and the body is richly fed, the mind becomes poorer and more disturbed, it has more thirst, more craving and clinging. With an unstable mind, we go to extremes. When there is no balance in the mind, then there is no balance in life, and in this way we can see the natural world clearly. The other extreme concerns with spiritual life in which people may drop away from the material world, refusing to face what is arising in their lives. They may give up their work and responsibilities, renouncing the world without insight, they are faced various disasters. 27 (1) 1. 2.